I have a lot of problems personally with ‘doomscrolling ’ habits, and getting suckered into arguing on social media sites.
I honestly believe that the internet is actively BAD for our wellbeing, UNLESS we use it properly.
Most people do not know how to use it properly.
Remove Advertising
As much as possible, I remove advertising from my internet view.
I do this mainly through using NextDNS.io and UBlock Origin on my browser configuration.
Remove Tracking
The more my internet behaviour is tracked, the more personalisation takes place, and the better the adverts and internet social media algorithms become at distracting my attention.
Therefore, I use these privacy-enhancing technologies to help reduce internet tracking:
- Firefox - Firefox easily provides the most customisable privacy settings.
- Cookie Consent Plugin - This further automatically reduces personalisation by denying tracking cookies automatically.
- VPN - I use Private Internet Access frequently to reduce personalisation and increase privacy.
- Insights from this book: Extreme Privacy: What It Takes to Disappear .
- Insights from this ‘Privacy Guides’ Website .
Limit Social Media
- I use the Firefox LeechBlock plugin to limit social media to a certain number of hours today, and have a ’lockdown’ escape button when I get too engaged in an online argument. It is almost always better to just walk away and post a better reply hours later.
Use RSS
I use RSS feeds in preference to email and social media sites because it is much easier to isolate the content from the advertising noise, and to keep on top of.
I use this RSS feed reader .
I use this RSS app to convert normal internet sources into RSS feeds.
Avoid video and picture content
There is nothing so distracting or ’noisy’ as video or picture content. You end up watching something for at least a minute before you even know whether it will be useful or not, and you cannot ‘skip ahead’ or ‘speed read’ or check references easily.
I use GenAI tools to convert videos into transcriptions that I can more easily read through them.
I use UBlock Origin to skip YouTube adverts.
Screen Breaks
Not enough people, especially neurodiverse people like me, take screen breaks.
We get suckered into being at the computer for hours and hours on end without a break.
This is not healthy! I have reminders to make me remember to take a screen break.
Exercise
This is a general catch-all ‘miracle cure’ but I realise that not enough people exercise.
Regular exercise improves almost everything related to cognition, focus and wellbeing.
I find that when something online has made me angry, really furious, the absolute best thing to do for me is to get away from the screen and to lift some weights for 5-10 minutes. After that, I always return much calmer.
Reading
- Taking time away from the screen to read books, that is, real books, is proven to make us better readers, better critical thinkers, more empathic people, and better well-grounded individuals.
Spending time daily with supportive friends
- I find it ESSENTIAL to spend at least some time, every day, in conversations with supportive friends. I have cultivated a supportive friendship network that exists outside of ’the screen’ and my social media presence, and if I don’t maintain this, I inevitably suffer.
Consider Counselling
I find myself interacting a lot with individuals online that could REALLY benefit from counselling. Whether it is anger management or normal counselling, these individuals really need to seek out some kind of extra help.
I also find that a lot of people that use the internet unhealthily are probably undiagnosed neurodiverse - or if they ARE diagnosed neurodiverse, they are not aware of how it affects their online behaviour.
Read Cyber Psychology
- I have found that reading insights into the academic field of “Cyber Psychology”, the fledgling discipline of how we interact and behave online, can be a fascinating reminder that EVERYONE behaves differently online, and how to avoid the most obvious traps to fall into.